External HDD Docking Stations may not be perfect (occasional issues with USB 3.0 models) and are certainly not as fast as an internal SATA III connection but regardless of these two they are also without doubt some of the most convenient accessories for computers ever manufactured. Of course ever since the first USB 2.0 HDD docking stations made their appearance a few years ago many new features have been added from Firewire, eSATA and USB 3.0 connectivity up to dual HDD docking stations with (select few solutions) or without RAID0/1 modes. However some manufacturers choose to walk another path and so Sandberg just released their second HDD Cloner and as expected we have been playing with it for the past week.

Sandberg A/S is a Danish company with a clear ideology: We want to make it easier to get hold of computer accessories. Everyone should be able to find the right accessories in the shop and get them to work once they've got them home without the need for specialist knowledge. The basic idea of Sandberg wanting to make things easier for both consumers and dealers has imbued the spirit of everything that Sandberg has done since 1985, when the company was founded by the two brothers Martin Hollerup and Erling Hoff Petersen.

The latest HDD Cloner by Sandberg is basically a dual bay HDD Docking station with USB 3.0 connectivity and the ability to completely clone drive A to drive B without the need for a computer. Almost a year ago the original USB 2.0 HDD Cloner from Sandberg was on my test bed and it managed to produce quite good results and so because of that i was waiting to see how much higher transfer rates the USB 3.0 model could achieve when used as a Docking Station and why not how much faster it would be when cloning a drive. Well now that the new model has finally arrived the only real question is just how good it turned out to be and whether or not it met my expectations.